Passionate about storytelling in various mediums and sharing art that tells nuanced and authentic stories of people of all backgrounds and beliefs.
About
Samantha Rose Williams is an arts activist committed to sharing marginalized experiences with diverse audiences and creating space for critical discussion about art, culture, and social change. She balances an exciting professional career in performance and arts leadership and has a deep love for opera, musical theater, directing, marketing, development, and producing.
“Homecoming” from American Patriots
American Patriots is a theatrical song-cycle that captures the contemporary American zeitgeist from three vastly different perspectives: African-American, Native American, and white Working-Class American. Featuring newly commissioned songs set to the unaltered text of interviews with 35 Americans, American Patriots takes an unflinching look at the lived reality of American ideals today.
Singing Justice is a research group at the University of Michigan, with members including Dr. Louise Toppin, Dr. Naomi Andre, and the acclaimed Baritone Thomas Hampson, awarded generous funding from the Humanities Collaboratory to research and write a book on Black song. With a focus on an “engaged musicology” that values aural histories and the embodied experiences of musicians, Singing Justice will publish a book in 2023 that looks at American music through the lens of Black song.
Black Girl Dreaming is a song cycle created by an all Black female creative team. The songs all talk about universal human struggles through different aspects of the Black female experience. Samantha commissioned poet Olivia Johnson and composer B.E. Boykin to collaborate on this work.
TypeCaste is a blog devoted to exploring the nitty gritty realities of DEI and anti-racism in the performing arts. This blog aims to share concrete ways artists who have chosen to embody an inclusive and responsible arts practice deal with bringing those lofty and often abstract goals into reality.
“…as Sarah, Williams had me crying before I knew what was happening at least three times with her jaw-dropping vocal power and earnest portrayal of doubt, hope, and resilience. “
“Mezzo-soprano Samantha Rose Williams (Lucinda) [was] instrumental in turning Higdon’s work into a riveting and memorable experience.”
“The energetic Samantha Rose Williams as the Old Lady also deserves special mention.”
